


Too much at stake

by candidjelly



Series: Irondad and Spiderson [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Gen, IronDad and SpiderSon, Irondad, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Movie Night, Parent Tony Stark, Sleepy Cuddles, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, could be Rhodey/Tony if you read it that way, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-26 16:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18183074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candidjelly/pseuds/candidjelly
Summary: Rhodey bit his lip to contain his grin. Well, if they were going to act like father and son, then surely Peter should know the intimate details of Tony’s life before him. “Wanna know something about Tony he’d never tell you himself?”In which Rhodey regales Peter with a story from his and Tony's days at MIT, and Peter is a snuggly spiderling.





	Too much at stake

**Author's Note:**

> This was written to cheer up the marvellous [marvel-us-world](https://marvel-us-world.tumblr.com/) (see what I did there?)
> 
> I hope this will make you feel calm, honey ♡

“Hey, kid,” Rhodey spoke up, his chin doubled up against his chest as he stared at the rolling credits on the screen.

Peter’s small hum was tired, but instant. He didn’t lift his head but rolled it along Tony’s steadily rising chest to face Rhodey, an indentation on his cheek from where it had been pressed up against the arc reactor. Tony himself was deaf to the world; his snores had been reverberating around the room since the first half hour of the film, much to the other two’s amusement. Turns out insomnia-ridden geniuses did need to sleep sometimes - the whacky musical score and screams of terror must have been a calming white noise to drift off to. Then again, having a certain spiderling curled up against him must have been comforting to the billionaire. Sort of like a teddy bear.

Rhodey hardly bothered hiding his fond smiles at Tony and Peter’s relationship anymore. He’d always known Tony would make a great Dad, even if sometimes it seemed the whole world disagreed with him - and tried to convince him likewise. Sure, the guy had had a terrible past (Hell, who didn’t?) and made some pretty questionable decisions between then and now, but his heart was always there, always wanting to prove his worth, his compassion, and do the best for those around him. Oftentimes that meant defending the World in its entirety, as Rhodey was well versed in. But tonight, huddled up on a leather couch, arm curled around his young protégé and dutifully watching _‘Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed_ ’ as per said teenager’s request (even if he had passed out before the first half was up), it was clear to anyone who saw them that for this evening, what Tony Stark really felt needed protecting was sitting right beside him with his curls brushing against Tony’s glowing heart.

Rhodey bit his lip to contain his grin. Well, if they were going to act like father and son, then surely Peter should know the intimate details of Tony’s life before him. “Wanna know something about Tony he’d never tell you himself?”

Peter’s eyes practically glittered at the possibility, and his head jumped off of its sternum-pillow to nod frantically, not talking as to avoid waking his mentor. Rhodey leaned across the space between the two couches conspiratorially.

“The old man went through a phase when we were in M.I.T. together; for like three months he was utterly obsessed with the supernatural,” he revealed, revelling in the gasp that escaped Peter.

“Really?” the teen’s voice was whispered, but his excitement made it practically vibrate with energy, and for a moment Tony stirred. The two waited with bated breath, but once he had settled back down, Rhodey continued.

“Yeah, I never knew how it started, but one day he just started rambling about ectoplasm and spiritual entities.” Peter’s wide eyes darted over to his sleeping mentor, clearly trying to pair this new information with the man he saw before him. “He started researching local haunted spots, even dragged me with him to this abandoned hospital one night after a pa-”

“Did you see anything?” came Peter’s desperate question, and Rhodey had to pause for a second to reign in his amusement.

“Sorry, kid, we came back with nothing,” the Colonel did his best to avoid noticing the disappointed pout that met his answer. He didn’t believe in that spiritual mumbo-jumbo himself, but the kid clearly did, so he could humour him at least a little. “‘Cause we had to leave early,” he added hastily, hoping to abate Peter’s disappointment. “You know why though? Tony brought out this cardboard monstrosity - had a bunch of stencilled numbers and words on it. Said it was a prototype of his newest ‘invention’: A board where if you held onto a pointer with everyone else in the room and asked a ghost some questions, they could communicate with you through kinetic energy. And so I said, ‘What, like a -”

“Ouija board,” Peter tagged on, his voice synchronising with Rhodey’s. Their smiles were equally replicated, and Peter huffed out a laugh.

“Dude actually thought he’d invented the Ouija board,” Rhodey couldn’t contain his chuckle, feeling warmth spread through his chest at the fond memory. “He went quiet for a whole minute, then just packed up the board and the candles and left.”

“There were _candles_?” Peter snorted, cheeks going pink from just how wide his grin had gotten.

“Oh, you bet. I’m telling you, there were a lot of things coursing through my mind when he pulled those out of his --”

“I thought we’d pinky promised to secrecy on that one, Rhodey,” Tony’s voice piped up, and the other two’s heads cranked over to see the man in the exact same position he had been all night, but with one eye open.

“Mister Stark, why didn’t you tell me you invented the spookiest game ever?” Peter’s voice shook with laughter.

Tony finally sat up, back ramrod straight and face deadly serious. “Oh, it is not a game.”

Rhodey chortled, rolling his eyes. “Sure it’s not, Tony. Wonder why you found it in a games shop the next week then.”

Tony flung his hand out, as if throwing the mere suggestion away. “They didn’t understand half of the power they had in that thing.”

“Kinda like Shaggy, our darkest overlord,” Peter piped up, in his typical carefree way that hardly matched the demonic energy of what he’d just said.

Rhodey and Tony shared The Look - the one they had adopted commonly in the presence of Peter that was halfway between severe concern and utter amusement.

“C’mere, weirdo,” Tony wrestled Peter back into his side, ruffling up his hair - clearly deflecting the fact that he was just pulling the teen’s head back onto his chest. Rhodey could tell he missed the contact and was glad to see that Peter was unafraid of it, laughing heartily and willingly using Tony as his pillow once more. “Maybe we two could partake in some ouija-ing one day, Underoos. Rhodey never did take up my offer,” Tony added a faux-sniffle at the end to drive his point home.

“Uh, no thanks, Mister Stark,” Peter refused, a bit timidly. “With how bad my luck is already, I don’t really wanna risk, I dunno, getting possessed or whatever.”

“True that, Petey,” Tony agreed passionately, telling FRIDAY to switch the TV screen off and turn on a lamp so they weren’t left in complete darkness. “Don’t want any spiritual infestations in this household,” Tony’s arm held Peter close, his hand resting on the boy’s shoulder, and his other arm crossed over his chest to mindlessly card his fingers through Peter’s hair. Peter let out a tiny sigh at this, his eyes falling shut at the soft touch. Tony’s own gaze was fixed somewhere off in the distance as he spoke gently, “We’ve got too much at stake.”

Rhodey noted the embrace between the two with a soft smile stretching his lips. They certainly had.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this smattering of fluff! If you did then please consider leaving kudos or a comment ♡
> 
> Come visit me on tumblr: [gayspiderbaby](https://gayspiderbaby.tumblr.com)


End file.
